Do kids get too much homework?

If I remember rightly. (and I think I do) I didn’t get much, if anything in the way of homework until I hit secondary school. In primary school for out homework, we had to read, and sometimes collect bits an bobs to make stuff with for the classroom, there were probably spellings in the juniors too. That was our lot. Things seem very different now, G’s been getting homework for years, she’s only ten!

So, do kids get too much homework?

I honestly think that they do, it’s slowly been ramping up over the years, at first there was reading, which of course is fine, then spellings, again fine. We started then to get ‘projects’ – build this, make that, research that. On top of this now G is preparing for exams, she’s got three test books she has to work through, completing several pages each week, on top of all the usual stuff.

An authentic model of a Tudor House made for homework :/

It just doesn’t seem fair.

As well as the homework there is a helluva lot of ‘dressing up’ too – costumes and outfits have to be prepared for assemblies and ‘World *whatever* Day’. I don’t remember having to do much of that stuff – it was a tea towel and dressing gown each year for the Christmas play and that was it.

The thing is, I don’t get much time with G, I imagine it will get less as she grows up and wants to be with her friends, I hate that the time we do have being filled with homework. Of course I want her to do well, and get good grades, but at the same time I don’t want her to have so much pressure piled on, and all her free time sapped up in books. Weekends are for having fun and time off, not stressing about your punctuation and maths books – especially at the age of ten!

I suppose having homework now makes it less of a baptism of fire when she moves to secondary school next year, but I don’t recall having too much pressure on me in Year 7. The first two weeks of homework seemed to be covering our books!

One Response

You can always talk to the school and tell them how you feel. Last year my son was being given 11+ preparation work to do at home. As he wasn’t even going to do the exam I spoke to his teacher about it. She then gave him something more manageable to do.